


The best thing we can do is to start over

by GreenGlitchBitch



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Endgame fixit, Established Relationship, I just said Avengers cause I dont wanna list them all, I just wanted my ww2 boys to have a happy ending, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Stucky - Freeform, dont look at me, wrote this on the road
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 12:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20742185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenGlitchBitch/pseuds/GreenGlitchBitch
Summary: It had taken a lot just to get to this point. Steve had to die, come back to life, found his best friend all over again, after being turned into a weapon for the enemy they fought together in the war.





	1. The best thing we can do is to start over

**Author's Note:**

> So, been a while. I had a stroke of genius on the road today, thought I'd write a little something something. This is gonna be multi chapter, so this is officially my first multi chapter Stucky Fic!! It's an Endgame fixit, because I am not happy about the ending of that movie. Each chapter kind of ends on somewhat of a cliff hanger, as of now. I've already written 4, but, I think I'll only upload one a day, just to keep you guys on edge. Endgame spoilers, warning anyone who still hasn't seen it now. Don't say I didn't warn you, if you don't take my word for it. Anyway, this is a fun idea I've been meaning to write for at least a month and a half, so, I hope you guys enjoy it! Chapters might not be up exactly one a day, but it'll be in that range. No more than one every couple of days. As always, if you have constructive criticism, please, let me know! If you have any tips, or ideas you want me to write, I'm all ears. I love getting comments about what works and what doesn't in one of my fics! And, shameless plug, I recently uploaded a new edit on my Youtube channel! It's a Stucky edit, to the song Winter, by Tori Amos. It only took me 2 days to make, and it's my favorite edit I've made so far. I'm super proud of it, and you guys should go check it out, if you're interested, or wanna watch it. I'll put the link in the end notes. And, I'm always welcome to people joining me on Tumblr! I'll link that in the end notes too, if you guys are interested. If you're not, no problem, it's all up to you! Anyway, shameless plugs aside, I hope you enjoy, and I'll hopefully get the next chapter up sometime tomorrow!

It had taken a lot just to get to this point. Steve had to die, come back to life, found his best friend all over again, after being turned into a weapon for the enemy they fought together in the war. He had to fight his new family, to keep that friend safe, and then lose contact with half of that family, and be made a criminal. And then, he had to fight a giant purple bastard, who took away almost everything he knew and loved, including his best friend. Not to mention, 5 years of tears, heartaches, and moving on, slow as it was. 

When finally, a solution appeared, in an unexpected way. Scott Lang showed up out of nowhere, and got everyone on an idea of Back to the Future proportions. It took a lot of convincing, but finally, everyone was on board, and suddenly, they had the stones, Bruce snapped, and then the Compound exploded. Steve doesn’t really remember a lot of the fight. He remembers the hammer in his hands, as he swung, and called down lightning from the sky. He remembers standing up, shield half broken, facing Thanos off by himself.

He remembers hearing Sam’s voice in his ear, and then, everyone they had lost was there, alive, and fighting together, as one. The entire battle is a bit of a blur, after that. Everything happened so fast. One minute, they were getting destroyed, then Danvers showed up, and the tables turned. The fight got close, and the next thing Steve knew, Tony had the stones on his hand, and snapped.

Thanos and his entire army blew away, like all of his family and friends had, 5 years ago. But the price was so high. Tony lost his life, saving the universes. A funeral was held at his cabin, everyone there to pay respects to the man who gave everything to save everyone, even those who didn’t even know, or like him.

Not long after, Bruce reminded them they needed to return the stones. Steve volunteered, and soon, he was hugging his best friend goodbye, and then he was on the portal. A final look to his best friend, and then he was gone. 

Steve had planned it all out. The hardest one first, which meant the Aeather. It took a lot of sneaking, and injecting some poor scientist with the liquid stone, but he finally did it, dropping off the hammer before he left. Next up were the 2 stones that lived in New York in 2012. Easiest one first, so that just meant returning the time stone to the Ancient One, who was patiently waiting for him on the room of the New York “Sanctum”. She said some cryptic, mystic shit, and then allowed Steve to continue on his journey. He ran back to his unconscious self, and placed the scepter next to him, and continued on. 

Next up, he chose Morag, which was fairly simple. All he had to do was follow Rhodey’s “directions”, which were more descriptions of the terrain than anything else. He passed a knocked out Peter Quill, and couldn’t help snorting at how funny he looked, after seeing him fighting. 

The next one hurt him more than he thought he would. He flew to Vormir, to return the Soul Stone, to the place where Nat died, and was met with his old enemy, Red Skull. He prepared for a fight, but nobody threw the first punch. They chatted for a bit, and Steve came to understand that he wasn’t Schmit anymore. Then came the question he knew he would have to ask. How to get Natasha back. The answer he got was not the one he wanted. 

There was no way to bring Natalia Alianova Romanova back from the dead. Steve argued, he fought back, he screamed, he yelled, he cried, he offered everything he had, even himself, nothing worked. She willingly gave her life to get the stone. Regardless of the fact that the stone was being returned, she “signed a contract” of a sort, in giving her life, there was no backing out of the contract. Reluctantly, Steve gave in, returned the stone, and left, to his final destination, and the hardest choice of all.

He found Peggy’s address in the 70s, and went there, instead of Camp Leigh. She was definitely surprised to see him, but happy at the same time. He gave her the Tesseract, but didn’t make to leave, just yet. 

“Steve, you’ve done your job. You can return home” she said, looking at him sternly. He smiled softly at her.

“I can’t leave just yet. I still owe my best girl a dance” he said, and she smirked at him. She walked over to her record player, and chose an old one, Long Long Time. She walked back over to him, and they danced together.

“Steve” she started, and looked up at him, sadly.

“You know you can’t stay here. You have a family waiting for you. They need you. I have a life, I’m not done with mine, but I’m living it. You deserve your chance to live yours” she said, and Steve looked down at her, looking so tired, and worn.

“I know, Pegs. I can’t stay here. I’ve got to go live my life, with my family. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve been Captain America for almost 90 years. I threw myself back into the fight from the very beginning, trying to drown down the pain, and now I have a chance to quit. But we’ve lost so much, what if the world, the universe is in danger like that again? I can’t back out, I can’t take that risk. I can’t leave my family to suffer like that, without me to back them up when they need it” Steve replied, and she smiled at him softly.

“Rest. Together, you defeated the biggest threat the Universe has ever faced. You don’t need to rest all of creation on your shoulders. You’re only one man, no matter how much you can take. Your family only wants you safe. They can take care of themselves. You were given the serum to fight World War 2. For you, that war ended almost 90 years ago. It’s time to stop being Captain America, and start being Steve Rogers. I bet he’d really enjoy all the things you have in the future. And I know who you have waiting for you back in your time” she said, smirking at him again, and Steve blushed.

“Yeah, you’re right. But, I haven’t been Steve Rogers in so long, I don’t think I know how to be him anymore” he said, voice growing quieter, sadder. She stopped smiling, stopped dancing with him, and placed her hands on his cheeks, not surprised to find wetness under his eyes.

“Steve Rogers has always been inside you. Right here” she removed her left hand from his cheek, and placed it on his heart. 

“You will always be Steve Rogers. Remember that skinny man who outsmarted all the other trainees, to get a ride with me? Remember the weak-hearted man who jumped on a dummy grenade to save everyone? Remember that asthmatic man who lived up to Dr. Erskine's words? You were made a perfect soldier, but you have stayed a good man. You’re still Steve Rogers, you just have to find him. He’s in there somewhere” she said, smiling at him again. He smiled back, not caring about the tears rolling down his cheeks. She brushed them away gently, pulled his head down to hers, and softly kissed him on the forehead.

“Now go back and be Steve Rogers” she said, stepping back, and he nodded his head. He clicked the button that pulled the travel suit around him, and got ready to go back, when Peggy’s eyes widened, with a sudden idea.

“Wait, wait, I have something for you!” she said, and ran off quickly, returning not long after, with a large, round bag.

“This may come in handy for Captain America” she said, handing it off to Steve, who smiled, knowing exactly what it was.

“Thank you, Peggy. It will indeed. Goodbye” he said, and then he was gone. 

The next thing Steve say was Sam, Bruce, and Bucky, looking back at him in surprise.

“I did it. There was no way to bring Nat back. I’m so sorry, Bruce, I tried, I really did” Steve said, while everyone continued staring at him in shock. He furrowed his brow, getting confused.

“What?” he asked, kind of scared now.

“Stevie” Bucky said softly, eyes filling with tears, the same shocked expression not leaving his face. Before Steve could say anything, he continued.

“Look at your hands”

“What? What’s wrong with my ha-” Stve started, before stopping abruptly, and finally understanding why they were so shocked. His hands were so much smaller than they had been in almost 90 years. He looked around his body as best he could. Everything was smaller, skinnier, sickly looking. 

“Oh my god” he said, feeling his breath quicken, and his heart race faster than it had in decades. The serum was gone. He was exactly like he had been before Project Rebirth.


	2. Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Buck, this is my old body. I don’t think there is a way to go back to the way it was. I think I’m stuck like this” Steve said, smiling up at Bucky, sadly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, just like I said! Again, I tried to leave it with a cliff hanger, just cause I can. I might have the next chapter up tomorrow, but I only have 2 more chapters already written, so I might space the next 2 chapter uploads out to once a week. Anyway, can't think of much else to say except, hope you enjoy it!!

Steve could feel his chest tightening. He couldn’t breath. It had been almost 90 years since his last asthma attack, he couldn’t believe he was having one again, after so long.

“Steve!” Sam yelled, but Steve barely heard him, as he sank to his hands and knees, gasping for air, one hand clutching his throat. He knew someone had rushed up onto the portal with him, but didn’t know who.

“Steve! You gotta breath” Bucky’s voice came from right next to him, and Steve felt a hand running his back.

“Come one, baby. Just like the old times. ‘Member, when it used to get so cold, the frosted air used to get your lungs all worked up? Come on, baby. In and out, just like me. Match my breath, sweetheart. In and out, just like that” Bucky said getting Steve to match his breathing. He kept rubbing his back, instinct leading his actions. Taking care of Steve has always been a second nature, even if he hasn’t had to do it like this in decades. 

They stayed like this for some time, until Bucky could feel Steve’s breathing even out, and calm down, and he sat up.

“Oh my god, Buck. Thank you. I haven’t had an asthma attack in so long. I don’t know what happened” Steve said, talking quickly, before remembering what had just happened, and slowed down again. 

“Steve, hey, talk to us, man. Start from the beginning” Sam said, walking to the portal, in front of Steve.

“I returned the stones, one after the other, and the last place I stopped was to see Peggy. I gave her the Tesseract, and danced with her one last time. We talked for a little bit, and then I came back here, looking like this” Steve said, giving them the quick version. Bruce looked deep in thought when he spoke. 

“Interesting. Steve, I need to run a couple tests on you, to see how much of the serum left your body, and why. The compound is too far to get immediate tests, but I know Tony has had a lab in his cabin. I know it’s still so soon after his death, but we need to test you immediately, to know if we need to get you any prescriptions right away. I’ve read your file, but is there anything we would need to worry about immediately, Bucky?” Bruce asked, face turning to Bucky, who’s focus had been on Steve the entire time.

“Huh?” he said, finally noticing Bruce was waiting for an answer.

“Are there any medical ailments Steve suffered from that we need to worry about right away?” Bruce repeated, and Bucky thought.

“Asthma, scoliosis, he had fallen arches, he had an astigmatism, arrhythmia, he was partially deaf, he was anemic, had stomach ulcers, and a non-curable case of idiot” Bucky said, not being able to help himself, smiling, when Steve glared at him. 

“Okay, that’s something to start with. Steve, we gotta go to Tony’s lab, get you checked out” Bruce said, turning, and walking to Tony’s cabin.

“Man, it’s weird to see you like those pictures in the museum. You lived with all that shit for how long?” Sam asked, looking at Steve in a whole new light.

“Just about 25 years. But I never had to deal with it on my own. I had my ma, and Bucky, always there, dragging my ass out of fights, getting my medicine, staying with me when I was close to death. Without him, I would have never even lived long enough to try enlisting for the army” Steve said, smiling at Bucky, who felt his face heat up, and didn’t care.

“Give yourself a little more credit, doll. I didn’t drag you back from deaths door, when you had pneumonia, I just sat next to you and prayed for you. You were, are stronger than you give yourself credit for” Bucky said, smiling back at Steve.

“You two are so adorable, it’s sickening. I’m gonna go catch up to Bruce, wait for you guys in the lab. Don’t be too long, we should run those tests as soon as possible” Sam said, rolling his eyes at the couple, before walking off in the direction of Tony’s cabin.

“Steve, we can fix this, we’ll have you back to your old body soon enough” Bucky said, holding Steve’s hand, and helping him up.

“Buck, this is my old body. I don’t think there is a way to go back to the way it was. I think I’m stuck like this” Steve said, smiling up at Bucky, sadly. Steve had to look up at Bucky even more than he used to. He’d shrunk almost a full foot, and Bucky had the height of the serum, even if it was only a couple more inches than he used to. 

“Hey” Bucky said, bending down to cup Steve’s face in his hands, heart bursting when Steve leaned into the touch.

“You were never stuck like this. This is who you really are. Tiny Steve, so brave, he fought everyone who was unjust. Steve, who despite thinking he was so ugly, made the most beautiful art ever. Steve, who thought he didn’t deserve to be loved, but couldn’t get me to stop loving him. This isn’t a setback for you, this is who you are. Maybe you won’t be able to go back to your big body, but it didn’t make you who you were. Your heart did, no matter how irreguler it would beat, how weak it was. That’s you, not your body. You’re Steve Rogers, no matter how tall you are, how strong you are, how healthy” Bucky finished, placed a hand under Steve’s face, and gently tilted it upwards, placing a soft kiss against Steve’s lips. 

“Buck, I’ve just got an idea. If this can’t be fixed, how would you like to go back like I did?” Steve asked, eyes bright with a thought.

“I’m not following. What do you mean?” Bucky asked, looking confused.

“Like how I went back in time, and came back tiny. We can try and do that for you, if you wanted. We could go back to the way things used to be, when they were simpler, when we didn’t have to worry about the end of the world, just if we could pay the rent that month. Would you do that?” Steve asked, sounding so hopeful. 

“You mean, undo the serum for me?” Bucky asked, slowly understanding what Steve was offering.

“Yeah. We could rent an old brownstone in Brooklyn, just like we used to. We could walk around New York, the same way we used to, but now we can show the world how in love we are. We could have our old life back, before the war, but now, we won’t have to worry about heat, rent, being caught, all that. We could go home” Steve said, choking up a little, and Bucky could feel his eyes get misty too. 

“But what about the Avengers? What about saving the world? What about Captain America?” Bucky asked, and Steve smiled up at him.

“What about the Avengers? They’re family, they’ll always be family. I’ve saved the world countless times. That’s why I became Captain America to begin with. To save the world from Nazi’s. We won that war, and I’ve been fighting ever since. My war is over, it’s time to rest. I’ve been Captain America for so long. I think it’s time to be Steve Rogers. We can finally rest, we can get married, like we used to talk about. 

We can raise a family, like you've always wanted. We can finally stop fighting. You can stop fighting. You’ve been doing what others want from you for so long. You never asked for any of this. We don’t have to be Captain America and Sergeant Barnes, or the Winter Soldier, or Nomad and the White Wolf. We can be Steven Grant Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes again. Remember those guys? I miss them” Steve says softly, and Bucky smiles at him.

“I miss those guys too. We could get married, we can have a family, like we always wanted with each other. Maybe you’re right. It’s time we rest. We’ve been fighting for so long. And you’re right, I never asked for any of this. But, I think I’m ready to ask for something. It’s time for me to do what I want to” Bucky said, still smiling at Steve.

“Does that mean that you-”

“Want to join you like this, if possible? Yes” Bucky answered, heart soaring, when he saw how much Steve’s face lit up. Steve threw his arms as far around Bucky as they could, hugging him so tightly. Bucky laughed, and returned the hug as best he could from the height difference.

“Now we just have to convince Bruce to let us do this” Steve said, pulling out of the hug, and grabbing Bucky’s metal hand, as they stepped off the portal, and towards Tony’s cabin.

“Well, first, we have to find some way to actually do it” Bucky said, waking next to Steve.

“Actually, remembering back, I think we have a way of doing that”

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the link to my youtube video:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPwqJVT3s1A  
And my Tumblr:  
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/stucky-4-lyfe


End file.
